The present invention concerns poultry processing in general, and more particularly concerns automatic poultry processing apparatus and corresponding methodology for improved handling of poultry during processing and without requiring manual intervention.
The poultry industry (for example, chickens, turkeys, and the like) is a major industry worldwide, involving the processing of a large volume of birds annually As such, the industry relies heavily on a line processing approach, in which a bird is moved along from station to station in a processing line. Frequently, a bird in various intermediate stages of being processed must be moved from one location to another, or from one type of machine to another. Various track arrangements have been utilized for such purposes.
One conventional such form of transport involves a moving track or conveyor type arrangement, often located overhead, from which poultry is variously suspended. One major phase of poultry processing involves the cleaning and preparation of the bird so as to obtain a dressed carcass, and another major phase involves processing of the dressed bird. Often, such processing involves a cut-up line or other processing in which the dressed bird is variously sectioned as desired into different usable pieces. Of course, the exact processing which is undertaken depends on the desired utilization of the poultry meat.
Frequently, birds emerge from the first major phase (i.e., being dressed or fully cleaned for subsequent processing) on an overhead track arrangement. One such conventional overhead track has leg hooks by which dressed birds are hung in an inverted position and advanced at predetermined spacing intervals. One example of such overhead track is disclosed in Hazenbroek (U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,673), the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
Generally speaking, dressed birds received in such an overhead track must either be transferred to a further poultry processing machine (often times involving manual intervention) or must otherwise be treated while still secured to and advanced by the conventional overhead track. In general, there are disadvantages with either approach, as follows.
Manual intervention can prove to be slow, tedious work which not only might subject birds to variations in treatment, but also poses health risks and problems with respect to the handling of food during its preparation. With respect to machines which more directly process a bird without removing it from an overhead track, any inadequacies in support or positive drive force for the bird or other variations (such as different bird sizes) can cause misalignment of the bird during the cutting process. Such misalignment can cause wasted pieces and, if the misalignment is serious enough, the processing line may become jammed or some other event may require manual intervention in the processing line. Of course, all such events are highly undesired for any type of processing line which is intended to run continuously.
Another aspect of poultry processing machines is another health related issue. In general, the more machine parts (i.e., greater complexity) involved, the greater the number of surfaces and areas in which harmful bacteria or the like may become lodged and grow. Accordingly, simplicity and the ability to service cleaning of an apparatus are important considerations for poultry processing equipment and methodologies.